Northcentral Washington fishing choices blooming

Here is the latest fishing report from Anton Jones of Darrell & Dad’s Family Guide Service:

What’s continuing hot is trolling for Lake Trout below Wapato Point on Lake Chelan. I expect that Roses Lake will lose its remaining ice cap during this reporting period. It has been very tough fishing at Rufus Woods.

On Chelan, fishing has improved for smaller fish in the indeterminate flat below Wapato Point. The occasional larger fish has come from working the edges of the lower basin. Worden Lures Flatfish, Silver Horde’s Kingfisher Lite spoons, Mack’s Lures Cha Cha Squidders as well as Silver Horde’s Ace Hi Flies baited with a piece of Northern Pikeminnow were once again the lures that worked.

Rufus Woods continues to be very tough. I would recommend Pautzke’s Fire Bait in American Wildfire for this work. Plan on spending time and effort to get those triploid rainbows to bite. If you’re fishing slip sinker rigs be prepared to change your weight and your leader length to adjust for differences in river current. Remember on Rufus, rainbow trout are pigs not tigers.

Roses Lake has open water at the east end of it as well as various other shoreline sections. I expect it to become ice free very soon

Your fishing tip of the week is to use the rule of three for making decisions. If I make three passes through an area without a bite, I move. If one lure gets bit three times while another one doesn’t get bit at all, I change the one that didn’t get bit. Once can be an accident, twice can be a coincidence, three times is a pattern. Words to fish by. Actually, that can apply to a lot of things in life.

The kid’s tip of the week is to always keep in mind the level of difficulty of a task for a kid. You want them to have to try and overcome adversity so they grow into a more persistent and resilient person, but if they are consistently defeated by tasks, they will give up. In fishing, it is always interesting to watch a young kid accomplish firsts, whether it is the first fish or the first big fish or even tying a knot. How much help they need to succeed yet get a true sense of accomplishment can vary a lot. I guess, that to, applies to a lot of things in life.

The safety tip of the week is to remember those “spring things” so you’re not “that guy” when you are heading out the first couple of times. Are your bearings greased on your boat trailer? Did you remember the boat plug? Did you get the life jackets back on board? You know the list.

About the author

A Seattle native, Mark Yuasa is a lifelong angler who grew up near the banks of Lake Washington and has been covering fishing and outdoors for more than 21 years for The Seattle Times. Read his regular fishing report every Thursday and the outdoor notebook every Sunday.